Town & Country Market

Town & Country Market was a shopping center in Los Angeles's Fairfax District, located at the southeast corner of Third Street and Fairfax Avenue, directly across Third Street from the historic Farmers Market. It opened on May 14, 1942, and presented itself as a collection of approximately 100 carefully selected shops arranged as a small town rather than as a conventional department-store-led retail building. The project incorporated visual and commercial elements associated with a farmers' market while offering a more formal and architecturally coordinated environment. The center was significant in the development of automobile-oriented retail in Los Angeles. It was among the early local shopping centers designed with customer parking lots, reflecting the growing importance of private cars to the city's retail geography. Architectural historian Richard Longstreth has identified it as an example of the "shopping court," a form that organized multiple independent or specialty retailers around a shared environment. Compared with the earlier Broadway & 87th Street shopping center, Town & Country Market was larger, more regular in its plan, and more elaborate in appearance. It also preceded the Broadway-Crenshaw Center, which opened in 1946. Town & Country Market differentiated itself from a purely utilitarian market through leisure and hospitality. The center promoted entertainment and included 26 restaurants, giving it a broader social and experiential role than a simple grocery or neighborhood shopping strip. In that respect, it anticipated later lifestyle-center concepts that combine retail, dining, leisure, and a themed or pedestrian-oriented setting. The original shopping-market identity later evolved into the Town & Country Center community shopping center. Over time, the site accommodated changing retail tenants and anchors. The building at 6360 was associated first with Sav-on Drug Store and later with CVS Pharmacy. The 6350 building housed Safeway, then Ralphs, and later Whole Foods Market. A former Kmart building at 6310, originally occupied by Britts Department Store, was demolished in 2023. As of the reference period, the property was being redeveloped by Regency Centers as Bloom on Third. The redevelopment includes a new mixed-use complex with apartments above retail space. Plans called for Whole Foods Market to relocate into the lower levels of the new development after completion. Consequently, the historic Town & Country Market brand is best understood as a defunct original shopping-center identity whose location continued in a successor community-shopping-center and redevelopment context.

Town & Country Market opened on May 14, 1942, at the southeast corner of Third Street and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles's Fairfax District. Its location opposite the Farmers Market placed it within an established food-and-retail destination, but its design and operating concept differed from a traditional open market. The center presented itself as a "small town" containing roughly 100 smart shops, using a coordinated environment to group independent and specialty retailers. The development belonged to an important transitional phase in Los Angeles retail. It was one of the city's early shopping centers built around substantial customer parking, acknowledging the role of automobile travel in the region's expanding urban form. Architectural historian Richard Longstreth categorized it as an example of the shopping court. In comparison with the earlier Broadway & 87th Street shopping center, Town & Country Market was larger and more formally planned. Its more elaborate appearance also distinguished it from the less architecturally unified Farmers Market across Third Street. The center opened five years before the Broadway-Crenshaw Center, another major early Los Angeles shopping-center development. Retail was only part of the project's appeal. Town & Country Market promoted entertainment and contained 26 restaurants, making it a destination for dining and leisure as well as shopping. This mixture of commerce, food, social activity, and themed presentation anticipated characteristics later associated with lifestyle centers. The project therefore occupied an intermediate position between a conventional shopping strip, a market, and a modern multi-use retail destination. The original market identity did not remain unchanged. The property continued as a community shopping center identified as Town & Country Center, with successive anchor tenants reflecting shifts in American retail. The 6360 building was occupied by Sav-on Drug Store and later CVS Pharmacy. The 6350 building housed Safeway, later Ralphs, and subsequently Whole Foods Market. At 6310, a building originally associated with Britts Department Store later served as a Kmart location. The former Kmart structure was demolished in 2023. Regency Centers was redeveloping the site as Bloom on Third, a mixed-use project with apartments on upper floors and retail below. The redevelopment plan called for Whole Foods Market to relocate into the lower levels once the new complex was completed. This transition marked the end of the original Town & Country Market configuration while continuing the site's role as a neighborhood-oriented retail and community destination.

• 2023

  Former Kmart building is demolished

  [1]Town & Country Marketen.wikipedia.org

  The former Kmart building at 6310, originally associated with Britts Department Store, was demolished during redevelopment of the site.

• 2023

  Bloom on Third redevelopment begins

  [1]Town & Country Marketen.wikipedia.org

  Regency Centers was redeveloping the Town & Country Center property as Bloom on Third, a mixed-use complex combining apartments and retail.

• 1946

  Precedes Broadway-Crenshaw Center

  [1]Town & Country Marketen.wikipedia.org

  Town & Country Market preceded the larger Broadway-Crenshaw Center, which opened five years later and illustrated the center's place in the early development of Los Angeles shopping centers.

• 1942

  Town & Country Market opens

  [1]Town & Country Marketen.wikipedia.org

  The shopping center opened on May 14, 1942, at Third Street and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles's Fairfax District.

An early Los Angeles shopping court positioned as a small-town retail and dining environment, combining specialty shops, restaurants, entertainment, and convenient automobile access.

• Retail · 1942

  Specialty shops

  The center's defining commercial offer was a curated collection of approximately 100 shops presented as a compact small-town retail environment. The available reference material does not identify the individual stores or product categories in detail.

• Food service · 1942

  Restaurants and dining

  Town & Country Market incorporated 26 restaurants and promoted dining as part of the destination experience. The restaurant component helped distinguish the center from a purely transactional shopping strip and contributed to its later comparison with lifestyle-center formats.

• Leisure · 1942

  Entertainment facilities

  Entertainment was part of the center's public-facing proposition. Although the reference material does not specify the individual attractions, the programming supported Town & Country Market's positioning as a destination for leisure as well as shopping.

• 2023

  Redevelopment as Bloom on ThirdStrategy

  Background

  The historic shopping-center site had continued as Town & Country Center while its tenant mix changed over time. The former Kmart building was removed as part of a broader redevelopment.

  Action taken

  Regency Centers initiated construction of a mixed-use complex with apartments on upper floors and retail space below. The plan called for Whole Foods Market to move into the lower levels after completion.

  Aftermath

  The redevelopment marked the transition away from the original Town & Country Market configuration while retaining a community-shopping and retail function at the location.

  Source

1. 1Town & Country Marketen.wikipedia.org